My last new recipe for Saturday was - Vermont Cheddar Bread and Carmalized Onion Bread.  Both recipes come from Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day!.  I am not going to type the recipes as they are too long - but Those that liked Onions - enjoyed the buns.  I did leave the onions off of several for cheddar buns and I also made plain white buns with a white bread recipe in the bread machine.  here are the pictures for them. 

These bars are absolutely delicious!  I found 3 different recipes with 3 different names but the same ingredients!  Except one had pecans in the crust!  If you want a very sweet dessert - try these!

Nieman Marcus - Chess Squares - Bayou Brownies

1 box yellow cake mix
3 eggs
8 oz cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, melted
4 cups (1 lb) powdered sugar

1 cup chopped pecans (this was in the recipe named Bayou Brownies)

 

Preheat oven to 300 and spray a 9×13 dish with cooking spray. Mix cake mix, melted butter and one egg to a soft dough (add pecans here if you want pecans). Press into the bottom of the pan. Mix powdered sugar, softened cream cheese and remaining two eggs until smooth, about 1-2 mins. Pour on top of crust. Bake at 300 for 40-50 minutes until top is golden brown.

Pumpkin Crumb Cake

Next recipe that I have been wanting to try.... Pumpkin Crumb Cake!  This was delicious.  Next time I would put it in a 9x9 pan.  There were too many crumbs for the loaf pan plus it took longer to back! 

Cake Batter
1 3⁄4 cups all-purpose flour    
1 1⁄2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
       (or 3/4 tsp cinnamon, 1/4 tsp ginger, 1/8 tsp cloves)
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
3⁄4 teaspoon salt
1⁄2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
1 1⁄4 cups sugar
3 large eggs
1 cup canned pureed pumpkin
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1⁄3 cup milk
3⁄4 cup chopped walnuts (optional) - I skipped this!

Topping
2⁄3 cup plus 2 tablespoons rolled oats
1⁄2 cup all-purpose flour
1⁄2 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1⁄2 teaspoon cinnamon
6 tablespoons unsalted butter

Directions
・ Preheat oven to 350°F.
・ Grease a 9x5x3-inch loaf pan and line with parchment paper.
・ To make the topping, combine 2⁄3 cup oats, flour, sugar, and cinnamon in processor. Add butter and cut in until crumbly. Transfer mixture to medium bowl. Stir in remaining 2 tablespoons oats. Set to one side.
・ Sift the flour, pumpkin spice, baking soda, baking powder, and salt into a bowl.
・ In a separate bowl, beat the butter with an electric mixer until smooth. Gradually beat in the sugar and 1 egg at a time.
・ Add the pumpkin and vanilla extract to the wet batter mix.
・ Gradually beat the dry ingredients into the batter. Slowly add the milk and stir in the walnuts (optional). Transfer the batter to the prepared pan and spread with the topping.
・ Bake the loaf cake until a toothpick inserted into center comes out clean, about 55 minutes. Cool in the pan for 15 minutes.
・ Turn the cake out onto a rack and cool completely.

Pulled Pork Sandwiches with Apricot Bourbon Barbeque Sauce

Wow - it has been a while since I have cooked anything new and since I have blogged!  The holiday's, puppy and Kiefer's graduation from Navy Bootcamp have just pre-occupied me!  Well this past saturday was the chance to try out a ton of new recipes!  Kim and Dave came for a wonderful visit and they got to sample the recipes. 

The first recipe came from a co-worker of Paul's.  Of course I had to alter it a bit.  No onions, no garlic and no chile pepper!  Next time I will also cook the pork the way I normally do.  In the crockpot with no Dr. Pepper.  It seem to make the pork tougher.  hmmmm.  The recipe was great!  :) 

Pulled Pork Sandwiches with Apricot Bourbon Barbeque Sauce

For the pork:
2-3 lb pork tenderloin (I used about 4 pounds)
2 cans of Dr. Pepper

For the Sauce
2 T butter
1 medium onion, chopped
2 medium cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 large jar (18 oz) apricot preserves
1 cup (12 oz) Heinz chili sauce
2 T molasses
1/2 cup plus 1 T bourbon
1/3 cup cider vinegar
1/4  cup packed light brown sugar
2 T Worcestershire sauce
2 T mustard (Dijon, spicy or whole grain preferably)
½ - 1 medium serrano or jalapeno chile, seeded and finely chopped

Preparation
To make pork:
1.  Put the tenderloin into a crockpot and cover with the Dr. Pepper.  Cook on low 7-8 hours.  (If you want to cook over night - put on lowest setting and cook for 10 hours).  
2.  Remove the pork from crockpot.  Dispose of Dr. Pepper.  Allow to cool a bit until it can be handled.
3.  Using 2 forks, shred the meat.  If it does not come apart easily, cook longer.

To make sauce:
1.  Melt the butter in a 3 qt heavy saucepan over medium heat.  Add the chopped onions and saute for at least 5 minutes until they start to brown.
2.  Add the garlic and cook until fragrant.  Approximately 1 minute.  
3.  Add the remainder of the ingredients except for 1 T of bourbon.  Cook for 20-30 minutes on low until well blended and thickened.  Remove from heat and add remaining 1 tablespoon of bourbon.  Mix well.  4.  Cool slightly and add to the shredded pork.  Depending on how much pork you have, you may have extra sauce.